


with every small disaster (i'll let the waters still)

by WishingTree



Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Gen, macy’s not in this one but she gets the morning shift, mel stabbed a demon that looks just like her mother guess it’s NIGHTMARE TIME
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-06 04:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16381520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingTree/pseuds/WishingTree
Summary: After stabbing the trickster demon lookalike of her mother, Mel has trouble sleeping. Luckily, she doesn't wake up alone.





	with every small disaster (i'll let the waters still)

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know exactly how Maggie’s powers work in the show yet, but let’s just say she can sense powerful emotions from far away when it’s someone she’s close to, i.e. Mel.
> 
> Title from Home by Gabrielle Aplin;

Niko isn’t sure what she wakes up to at first, bleary eyes squinting around the seemingly calm room, and she instinctively turns to Mel during her scan. But when her hand hits what feels like Mel’s leg instead of her shoulder, she blinks in confusion and reaches for the lamp, clicking it on and turning over.

Mel is slumped over still sitting up with her now darkened laptop, clearly having fallen asleep against the headboard without meaning to, and Niko furrows her brow. She had been typing away when Niko had gotten into bed what must have been hours earlier, but she had promised it wouldn’t take too long, mumbling a line about having some misogynists to decimate with her newest paper. Her eyes had been tired and her face had been drawn, but then she’d given Niko a lopsided smile and run her fingers through her loose hair, leaning down to kiss her, and Niko had let it go.

Now she’s asleep in what must be an extremely uncomfortable position, but before Niko can try and fix that, Mel jerks her head and starts mumbling uneasily.

“Mel?” Niko whispers in concern.

She jerks again, still murmuring wordlessly, but then her face scrunches up in a way that Niko recognizes. Quickly, she shuts the laptop and scoops it up to set it on Mel’s night table, and it isn’t a moment too soon, because Mel wakes up with a snap, abruptly throwing her hands up in front of her and stilling.

“Mel,” Niko shoots up, hands fluttering in front of her, “Mel, it’s okay, it’s just me.”

It takes a moment, but then Mel’s eyes lock on to hers and she seems to calm. “Sorry,” she breathes, looking away and then occupying herself with straightening the blanket in her lap. “It was – I had a… dream,” Mel says slowly, not meeting her eyes again as she shifts onto her side and wriggles down under the covers, and Niko automatically lifts the blanket to cover her shoulder. “It was… I…” she presses her lips together, and Niko shuffles down to face her, ever willing to wait her out.

“What is it?” she asks softly. It’s quiet in the room, only the sound of Mel’s shuddering breaths filling the silence, and Niko gently strokes her fingers down Mel’s cheeks.

“I killed her,” Mel finally says, gripping the blanket and bunching it up under her chin, “I… I killed her. My mom.”

Niko’s eyes widen, and then her panic response flares when she sees that Mel is starting to cry.

“Hey,” she tries, doing her best to keep her voice soothing, “Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay, it was just a dream.”

The words have the opposite effect when Mel lets out an honest to god  _whimper_ and squeezes her eyes shut, a single tear slipping down her nose, and Niko inhales sharply, pushing herself up onto her elbow.

“No, hey, it’s okay, don’t – I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Sniffling, Mel blindly shakes her head and tries to say something, but the words get caught in her throat.

“Mel, it wasn’t your fault,” Niko says lowly, reaching out for her. She tentatively lays her hand on Mel’s waist, waiting for any indication that Mel is uncomfortable, and when none comes she stretches out to draw her closer, blankets and all. Mel shifts willingly, tucking herself into the space next to Niko’s body, and Niko furrows her brow. “It wasn’t your fault that she died.”

She knows this is a heavy sentence, knows that there’s multiple meanings and neither of them are ready to get into it, not here and not now, but she also knows that it’s what Mel needs to hear.

“Well, this time it was,” Mel whispers, pressing her face into Niko’s shoulder. She draws her legs up, knees knocking against Niko, and her voice is muffled when she says, “I saw her, and it looked just like her but I knew it wasn’t, and then… and then it _was_. And… I _killed_ her.”

Mel takes another shuddering breath, and with a start, Niko realizes Mel is staring down at her hands, and they’re shaking worse than Niko has ever seen on her, having always been so steady. They’re shaking like some of the victims she has to interview at work, the ones that have been through traumatic experiences, and Niko hurries to clasp her hands over Mel’s.

“I stabbed her in the chest! With a knife. A knife! I – how – where did I even – ” 

She’s starting to babble, a bad sign for getting her to calm down, so Niko quickly wraps both arms around her and hugs her tight, pulling her closer and squeezing the way she knows she likes. 

Mel sinks into her, one hand clutching at the front of her sleep shirt, and Niko lays her cheek against the side of her head. She smoothes her hair down, inhaling deeply and keeping a protective hold on her, and she’s relieved when Mel slowly starts to relax.

Then there’s a tentative knock at the door, and Niko’s head shoots up.

“Maggie,” she says in surprise, seeing Mel’s sister poke her head inside after the door creaks open, “Is something wrong?” 

“Uh, heh, sorry, I thought I… heard… something.” 

There’s a weird inflection on the word, but Niko doesn’t have time to unpack it before Maggie gives her a preoccupied smile and steps inside, her brow furrowing as she stares at Mel’s huddled form with worry.

“Mel?”

Niko feels Mel freeze and rubs her hand up and down her back, both in comfort and encouragement.

“Mel, are you – is she okay?” Maggie asks, turning to Niko mid sentence, and Niko doesn’t know exactly what to say.

“I’m fine,” Mel’s muffled voice answers. To her credit, Niko is extremely impressed at how controlled it sounds, more annoyed than anything else, but her shoulders are still shaking.

“Wh – what’s wrong?”  

There’s silence as Mel shifts in Niko’s arms, burrowing deeper, and Maggie frowns. 

“Mel, you know I can feel it,” she reprimands. 

Niko doesn’t quite understand what that’s supposed to mean, but Mel stiffens at the words and lets her shoulders slump, taking a deep breath and then lifting her head.

“Right, yeah, whatever,” she mutters, but she rolls onto her back and untangles an arm from Niko and the blankets to pat the open space next to her anyways. Maggie doesn’t hesitate, stepping inside and skirting around the bed to get in next to her, and Niko obligingly moves over when Mel nudges her to make some more room.

It takes some shifting, but soon they’re all comfortable under the blanket, Mel sandwiched in the middle. 

“…Well, do you want me to sing the nightmare song?” Maggie pipes up brightly, flopping onto her side and tucking her hands under her head, and Niko giggles despite herself, knowing exactly how much Mel hates that song even though she’s the one that made it up when she was younger.

“No,” Mel groans, turning away from her sister to hide her face against Niko again, “No, god, don’t do that.”

“I’m gonna do it,” Maggie nods happily, taking a deep breath, “ _When the night is dark and scary, and dreams won’t_ – Hey!” she’s abruptly cut off when Mel grabs the pillow out from under her head, quickly apologizing to Niko as she yanks it up and throws it at Maggie face. Niko’s head hits the mattress with a thump, but she’s too busy stifling her laughter to care. Maggie wrestles the pillow away from her before shoving it back, and Niko lies still and lets the relief seep into her, closing her eyes and taking in the sounds of her girlfriend carefree and comfortable.

“Maggie, I will kick you,” Mel threatens, and Maggie scoffs.

“You can’t! That’s a rule, no kicking while we’re trying to sleep!”

That cuts through the room, quiet settling over them, and Niko sobers as well. She knows that _no kicking_  is one of the three rules their mother had set when they were children to ensure that they could share a bed without fighting, and she waits to see if this reminder works in their favour given what Mel’s nightmare had been about.

“I know,” Mel finally murmurs, her hand finding Maggie’s arm and squeezing, and Niko sighs quietly in relief, “I remember.” Maggie hums and closes her eyes, smug smile on her face, and Niko is glad to see Mel relaxing, almost all signs of the nightmare gone.

“…Hey,” Niko gently nudges her girlfriend, “Do you want me to go sleep downstairs so you guys can talk?” she offers quietly, already moving to lift the blanket, but Mel is shaking her head and grabbing for her.

“No, no, please stay. We – I’m fine, Maggie’s fine, I want you to stay.” 

Niko nods, taking that at face value, and snuggles back down, nudging her forehead against Mel’s temple.

It’s quiet, and then Maggie says, “Hey, Mel?”

Mel hums in question, and Maggie immediately starts singing again. “ _Dark and scary, and dreams won’t leave you happy, we know the way to –_ ” 

Mel makes an offended noise and then rolls over to the side, pushing at Niko. “Okay, bye Maggie, we’re going to sleep on the couch – ”

“Nope!” comes the happy protest, and then Maggie throws herself bodily across the bed, landing heavily on top of them and effectively trapping everyone where they are. “ _We know the way to find_ – ”

The rest is too muffled for Niko to understand because Mel seems to be trying to strangle her sister with the blanket, and Niko laughs along until she gets an elbow in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

“Okay,” she wheezes, still laughing, but she reaches out to click off the lamp, abruptly plunging the room into darkness.

“Hey!” both sisters complain, motions stilling, and Niko only sighs in amusement.

“I know you guys can sleep in until noon, but I have work in the morning, and _some of us_ need the rest, so time to quit it.”

They both grumble, resettling on the bed, and though Maggie doesn’t move from where she’s draped over the both of them, they all get comfortable.

Mel’s hand finds Niko’s in the dark, fingers lacing together, and Niko shuffles over blindly until her head is next to Mel’s on the pillow again. She stretches out her neck, managing to press a clumsy kiss high on her cheekbone and feeling her smile, and then closes her eyes and sinks back down onto the pillow, brushing Mel’s hair out of her face.

It’s calm, and then Maggie starts humming something and it’s the only warning Niko gets before Mel tries to lunge for her, muttering, “Oh my god!”

“Ah ah,” Niko wraps both arms around Mel’s waist and holds her fast, “No, it’s your turn to sleep, no assaulting your sister in the presence of a police officer.”

Mel huffs, sarcastically drawling, “Sure thing, Detective.” But she settles all the same, stifling a yawn against Niko’s shoulder, and all is well for the night.

**Author's Note:**

> listen the sole purpose of trying to make up a song was to annoy mel bc well that's her sister. 95% annoying and 5% sweet. of sorts.


End file.
